


Out of the Shadows

by amarmeme



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, Casarra is a Bad Liar, F/M, Fluff, Gambling, Long-Distance Relationship, One Shot Collection, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Poker, Romance, probably smut at some point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-26 23:17:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10796817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amarmeme/pseuds/amarmeme
Summary: Prompt "photograph" byEvil_Sapphyreon Tumblr. :)





	1. Synchronicity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt "photograph" by [Evil_Sapphyre](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Sapphyre/pseuds/Evil_Sapphyre) on Tumblr. :)

Pillows scatter across the floor, sheets twist with the force of pent-up frustration, toes dangle off the edge of the bed. Sweat collects at the base of her spine. Casarra squirms until a bracing shake to her senses snaps her out of her dream and shoves her into the cool, dark space of her quarters. Breathing uneven, Casarra tries to recall the details before the fleeting images can disappear into the ether of her mind. She closes her eyes, focusing on what she can recall; a scene strung together like photographs on a wire: smooth, warm palms running over her side, fingers sinking into hips, a stuttering cry. **  
**

The harder she tries to focus the further away the images get. They fold back into themselves and blink out of existence like once bright stars in the rearview. Casarra slowly opens her eyes as a frustrated sigh forces past her teeth. It’s not as if remembering the dream will conjure him out of thin air. A soft, blinking light from the deck above and the quiet, ever-present humming of the Tempest’s engines are the only companions for her senses. She’s as still as she’s allowed herself to be in weeks.

In the dark a lot of things can go wrong; lost footing in the middle of an all-night dig, a misplaced mark as the shadows draw something larger than life, a hasty decision made by the sudden feeling of anonymity in the absence of light. But worst of all is a busy mind left to its own devices, nothing distracting to latch onto. Casarra shifts, limbs coming back to center, and curls on her side. Her heart is a beating, bleeding wound. She misses Reyes too much, the way he traces the lines of her body like he’s learning something important, a complicated path back home. A shiver runs through her and she tenses, hair raised on her arms. If she had an ounce of superstition in her, she’d call it a sign. Casarra knows it’s a chill. Her sheets rest at her feet.

“You have a message from Mr. Vidal, Pathfinder.” SAM speaks almost softly, a disembodied voice that serves as a calming presence juxtaposed against her suddenly wild pulse.  

“Thank you, SAM.”

Her voice is wobbly and weak, and clammy hands shake as she feels a strange kind of hope take flight. What she even expects is impossible to frame; the fact they were thinking of each other at the same time across light-years of space is awfully romantic yet entirely coincidental. Still, her heart is impressed with the symbolism. She pulls up the message on her Omni-tool, the orange light casting flames across her body.

_I just had the most incredible dream. You were in it, of course. You are always the star of my imagination. Something about the way you were whispering in my ear felt… Call me absolutely crazy, but it was as if you were really here. With me._

_I love you too._

Casarra clamps a hand over her mouth as a last piece of dream flows into place, like a message washed up on the beach. A breathy sigh while cheek-to-cheek, three little words whispered on the exhale of a love note. She presses in a startled laugh-cry. For as much as she understands about science and the way the universe works, there’s so much left that can never be rightly explained. As the little, laggard memory slips away again, the fascinating intricacies of _how_ go with it. Casarra simply smiles and begins to reply, heart feeling a bit of respite.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was feeling sentimental and very true lovey-dovey. That's my excuse -- suspend your disbelief for me. They have a connection!!


	2. Poker face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For knjyasu on tumblr: "Crimson" "Cards" and "Envy"

“Do you know how to play poker?”

Casarra plopped down on the side of Reyes’ bed, taking off her slouchy beanie, large sunglasses and leather jacket, which was now covered in dust. She’d been sneaking into Tartarus from the back of the cave system, hoping no one would notice the Pathfinder visiting Reyes Vidal. His rented bedroom was tucked behind the bar, a more ideal place for them to meet than in the private lounge. 

“Only the stripping kind.” Reyes leaned forward, pressing his palms to the bed on either side of her hips. “Need me to teach you?” He kissed her neck, sending a flutter of nerves from the spot down to her stomach.

Casarra squirmed away from the touch, pretending she didn’t want it when she very much did. However, her desire to beat Gil without SAM’s help was paramount; the engineer was getting entirely too cocky. “If you teach me how to win, then I’ll let you take my clothes off.” Reyes backed up, looking her square in the eyes.

“You have a deal.”

Kian had an old, worn deck behind the bar, and they used various ammo as chips. They started with the basics. The values of the cards, scoring, how to raise and when to fold, all of it was covered in an efficient manner. Reyes sat beside her at the small table in his room, looking at her cards as she played, his presence at her side a distraction, but one she was oh-so-willing to work through. Whenever he leaned in to correct a misstep, hand crossing over her own to pluck up a card or point out something she hadn’t remembered, Casarra shifted into his space and enjoyed the way her stomach clenched in his presence. It tempted her to make a mistake on purpose; to draw him in again and again.  

After a few minutes of reminders, Reyes moved to Casarra’s opposite, a serious expression that meant he was not going to take it easy on her.

“I’ll deal first,” he said.

They played the first few hands quickly, piles of unruly ammo threatening to roll off the table. Most of it rested in front of Reyes. She couldn’t help but envy his good luck, hand after hand far superior to her own. Finally though, Casarra was blessed by the river, a crimson queen that made her own heart skip a beat. She had the best hand in the game, a royal flush, and all she had to do was stay cool, collected. If he knew what she held, then he might not raise again. She wanted to swindle as much as she could from him.

Casarra stroked her chips for a moment, as if considering the risk worth it. “Twenty,” she said at last. It seemed a reasonable amount for what was left in front of her, not too much to show what she was about, but enough to dent his pot.

Reyes threw his cards down with a flourish. “I fold.”

Casarra stared at him blankly. She’d won, but it wasn’t enough in the moment; Reyes needed to take the bait for her to make any leeway. “How did you know?” she cried.

He laughed, the rich sound didn’t do anything but irritate her. “Oh, I know that look of yours very well, Casarra. That pretty lady flipped over and there were stars in your eyes.” She huffed while blushing, blowing hair out of her face and leaning petulantly back in her chair. She wasn’t making starry eyes at him now. “The trick is to be a convincing liar,” he said. “You are not.”

“Hmm.” Cassarra tossed her cards down. “It seems like the trick is learning how to conceal your emotions. Think you could teach me?” She raised a churlish brow, challenging him.

“As you well know, where you’re concerned I’m hopeless at that.” He stood up from his seat, a few pieces of ammo rolling off the table and clinking to the floor. Casarra watched them fall as if in slow motion, Reyes crossing the small space to bend at her ear, warm breath tickling against her neck. “I can think of a few far more pleasant ways to test your ability to keep a straight face.”

Casarra gulped, all the air sucked out of her lungs. “But you didn’t teach me to win.”

“You don’t come to the Charlatan to learn how to play fair.” He pulled her up by her elbows, chest flush to his. “My kind of winning has less to do with rules. Trust me, you’ll enjoy this lesson far more. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't played poker in a long time. Gil would no doubt kick my ass. I would also shamelessly rely on SAM. Poker is about lying. :)


	3. Valley of Victors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For blacksheep33512 on Tumblr, who requested "shadows"

The corpses on Meridian had barely been swept away before Casarra was called to action again. Reyes didn’t even have a chance to talk with her besides a few suggestive remarks during the party. Determined to find her alone, Reyes searched the Tempest first, but her team hadn’t the faintest idea of her location. He probably deserved the runaround, but they truly underestimated him if they thought their close-lipped approach would deter him from discovering their Pathfinder.

After a quick call to SAM, Reyes tracked Casarra down to a wide, expansive platform overlooking the valley where they’d battled Kett. In truth, he’d never felt better about himself than when fighting by her side down in that valley. Not even his triumph over Sloane had made him feel so empowered, so important. His part in reclaiming Meridian was free of the stain of secrecy.

But now she was alone out on the ledge. Casarra loomed over her victory ground with an impossibly straight posture. You could mistake her for a statue if not for the wind blowing through her hair, rich brown tresses lifted up and cascading over her shoulder. Reyes paused at the edge of her eyesight, running a hand over his jaw and appreciating Casarra in private reverie. She was beautiful, and not despite the exhaustion on her face, but in part because of it. The mantle of Pathfinder looked good on her; Reyes only wished there was more time for her to enjoy her accomplishment. And selfishly, more time for him to enjoy her.

“Are you just going to keep standing there?” she asked towards the open air. “You aren’t as sneaky as you think, _Mr. Vidal_.”

He chuckled. SAM had given him away then. Reyes needed to talk to that fancy AI about spoiling his entrances.

“I was just appreciating the breathtaking view.” Reyes strolled over while she still surveyed the land. He pulled her into a backwards embrace, her head just beneath his chin. Casarra settled against him easily, and he whispered into her ear. “Though the valley looks beautiful too.”

She groaned, but he would bet his secrecy as the Charlatan that a smile stretched across her face.

“I’m not beautiful right now. I feel like I’ve been taking caf pills for the last six centuries and I haven’t had a shower in three days.”

“Three whole days? My pampered queen.” He kissed the side of her head and she squirmed in response. “I’ll have you know, before we figured out how to filter the water, the Angara referred to the port as the _armpit of Kadara_. I think they only dealt with Sloane as a way to make it stop.”

She laughed, the realness of it warming his heart. He loved making her smile. They stood in comfortable silence then, enjoying the ambient sounds of the wind blowing through the valley. After an indiscriminate amount of time, Casarra rested her head against his shoulder and sighed.

“You have to go.”

“Soon,” she admitted. “The Scourge is still out there, there’s so much left to do.”

“And your bosses need you to move, so you move.”

She nodded. There was a pause; each took a measured breath, knowing what was to come next.

“You could come with me. I could use a good shuttle pilot out there in the unknown.”

“Casarra, you know I wish I could.”

“You can,” she said, her voice strong. “There’s no one stopping you but you. If you want to be someone, be someone with me.”

He took a deep breath and considered it for the hundredth, thousandth, time. He could be just Reyes Vidal, untouched by the shadows; his involvement would go down in the history books, unfiltered and unvarnished.

It really was a very tempting offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A choose your own ending! What do you think Reyes would decide? 
> 
> There's an AU fic currently swimming in my brain where Ryder broke up with Reyes (though she's not over him) and is so surprised to find him helping during the siege on Meridian. This scenario takes place (though without an embrace) and she convinces him to accompany her on a mission to stop the Scourge. So, yea, that's going to happen.


End file.
